Jim Rogers Still Shorting Stocks, Staying Long Commodities and Currencies; Fed is Doing QE3 Right Now!

Jim Rogers is one of the most straightforward investors that you will ever encounter. He doesn't mince words, he is able to explain complex concepts in a simple way, and he always tells people exactly how he is positioned. Rogers was interviewed by Bloomberg Television yesterday from Singapore. Rogers said that he doesn't pay too much attention to the ratings agencies with regard to their credit outlook for European sovereigns. He essentially said that Moody's, S&P, and Fitch have discredited themselves too such an extent in the past that their outlook isn't of too much use when evaluating sovereign risk. He also discounted yesterday's massive rally in the stock market, saying that he doesn't give it a lot of credence as the market was oversold, and any kind of good news was going to be met with a rally. He also spoke about the AAA rating of the United States of America, which Fitch put on Credit Watch Negative this week. He said that the U.S. is not AAA, and that the rating is "absurd" and "ludicrous." He added that the United States is the largest debtor nation in the history of the world, and that the debts are growing. He also added that the ratings agencies are being way too optimistic with their ratings on European sovereigns. Rogers explained that he doesn't really care what happens day to day in the markets because any rally will be short lived until the underlying spending and debt problems in developed nations are addressed. Everything else is essentially noise. On the subject of the euro currency, Rogers said that it may last 5 years, but that it won't be around in 10 years. He also added that 5 years may be a stretch. He did say, however, that he hopes it doesn't implode too soon because he owns some euros. On the stock front, Rogers said that he is short European stocks, short American technology stocks, short emerging market stocks, and long commodities and some different currencies. In a refrain that he has been repeating for some time now, Rogers said that if the global economy improves he will make money in commodities due to shortages and increased demand. If the economy continues to languish, central bankers will keep printing money and commodities will prove to be a safe harbor asset to own in that type of environment. He also said that the world would be better off without the Federal Reserve, adding that "a world without central banks has problems, but a world with this central bank (the Fed) has worse problems." He said that the Fed is already doing QE3 and that they are lying about it. He said, "they are in the market, they are buying something, you cannot jump the money supply up like that without buying something, so they are there, they are just misleading us about it."